Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers
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The bell peppers, carrots and tomatoes were fresh from the garden; still warm from the sun. I scraped the dirt from those vibrant little carrots myself. I posted stuffed bell peppers a couple years ago using a mix of ground turkey and pork.
These are the beef version. Beef stuffed bell peppers are a meal in themselves; a classic Russian and Ukrainian dish. Enjoy!
Ingredients for Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers:
10-12 medium bell peppers (any color)
2 lbs ground beef (I used ground chuck)
2 1/2 cups cooked white rice
2 whole eggs, minus the shell of course (two yolks work well too if the whites don’t agree with you).
1 tsp salt
3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes (1 large tomato or 2 small)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped (1 tbsp dried parsley would work as well)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt plus 2 Tbsp vinegar for boiling water
Ingredients for the Sauce:
2 medium carrots, grated
1 Tbsp mrs dash, or your favorite seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 heaping tbsp sour cream
2 cups freshly chopped tomatoes or 1 cup marinara
2 cups reserved water from bell peppers
Prepping the peppers:
1. Cut the tops off each pepper and remove the junk from the inside with your hands.
2. Fill a large soup pot 2/3 with water and bring to a boil. Add 2 Tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp salt.
3. Place all of the peppers and their lids in the pot. Add more water if needed to cover the peppers. Cover and cook 3 minutes, then turn off the stove and let the peppers sit in hit water while you prep the rest of the ingredients (about 30-40 minutes). Reserve 2 cups of water from the pot.
The Meat Mix:
1. In a large skillet, heat 4 Tbsp oil over medium/high heat. Add 3 grated carrots, 1 chopped onion, 2 cups chopped tomato and season with parsley, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Saute until soft. Press 2 cloves of garlic into the skillet and saute another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl (I use my KitchenAid with paddle attachment for this) mix: 2 lbs ground beef, 2 1/2 cups cooked white rice, 2 whole eggs and 1 tsp salt. Mix in the sauteed carrot mix until well combined.
4. Loosely stuff the peppers with the beef mix. Fill them but don’t pack the mixture in. Arrange them in a dutch oven or a large soup pot with tight fitting lid.
The sauce for the Beef stuffed bell peppers:
1. In a large skillet, saute 2 grated carrots, 2 cups freshly chopped tomatoes (or 1 cup marinara). Stir in 1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar and a heaping Tbsp of sour cream. Add 2 cups water and stir to blend.
2. Pour the sauce over the stuffed peppers and cover peppers with their lids.
Two Ways to Cook beef stuffed bell peppers:
1. If using the lidded soup pot, bring to a light boil, then cover and simmer 40 minutes over medium heat.
2. If using a dutch oven (recommended method), cover with lid and bake at 450 ˚ F for 20-25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 ˚ F and bake 1 hour.
Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream.
Notes: To reheat leftovers, cut the pepper in half and spoon the sauce over each half.
Also, if you have leftover meat mix, saute up some meatballs.
Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients
Ingredients for Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers:
- 10-12 medium bell peppers, any color
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 1/2 cups cooked white rice
- 2 whole eggs, minus the shell
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes, 1 large tomato or 2 small
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
- Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped (1 tbsp dried parsley would work as well)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt plus 2 tbsp vinegar for boiling water
Instructions
- Cut the tops off each pepper and remove the seeds from the inside with your hands.
- Fill a large soup pot 2/3 with water and bring to a boil. Add 2 Tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp salt.
- Place all of the peppers and their lids in the pot. Add more water if needed to cover the peppers. Cover and cook 3 minutes, then turn off the stove and let the peppers sit while you prep the rest of the ingredients (about 30-40 minutes). Reserve 2 cups of water from the pot.
The Meat Mix:
- In a large skillet, heat 4 tbsp oil over medium/high heat.
- Add 3 grated carrots, 1 chopped onion, 2 cups chopped tomato and season with parsley, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Saute until soft. Press 2 cloves of garlic into the skillet and saute another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a large bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid with paddle attachment for this) mix: 2 lbs ground beef, 2 1/2 cups cooked white rice, 2 whole eggs and 1 tsp salt. Mix in the sauteed carrot mix until well combined.
- Loosely stuff the peppers with the beef mix. Fill them but don't pack the mixture in. Arrange them in a dutch oven or a large soup pot with tight fitting lid.
The sauce:
- In a large skillet, saute 2 grated carrots, 2 cups freshly chopped tomatoes (or 1 cup marinara). Stir in 1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar and a heaping tbsp of sour cream. Add 2 cups water and stir to blend.
- Pour the sauce over the stuffed peppers and cover peppers with lids.
Two Ways to Cook these:
- If using the lidded soup pot, bring to a light boil, then cover and simmer 40 minutes over medium heat.
- If using a dutch oven (recommended method), cover with lid and bake at 450°F for 20-25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350˚ F and bake 1 hour.
Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream.
It’s another HIT Natasha! I’ve made several of your recipies on Thursday evening (my night to cook) and this one knocked it out of the park. Thanks for lending your expertise to us wannabe cooks!
That’s great, Kevin! You’re very welcome. I’m glad you love the recipes. 🙂
Wow wow wow… the tomato mixture is the bomb girlfriend! My husband & I truly enjoyed the flavors but I did add a couple shakes of red pepper flakes. In fact I’m going to use this recipe to make canned sauce, it’s that good! We always use your recipes because it always tastes great! My presentation isn’t too good but it tastes great.
Hi Cherie! That’s great. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. We’d love for you to share your canning process, if you’re able to. 🙂
Hello,
Can you make it in pressure cooker, instead of oven/stove top?
Hi Al, I have not tested this recipe in the pressure cooker.
I did half the recipe and it fit perfectly in my Dutch oven cast iron. I added marinara to the fresh tomatoes for the sauce and ketchup for more flavor. Very delicious and tasted like home 🙂
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Suzanne!
Delicious as always! Natashas kitchen is my go-to for inspiration and recipes. My son requested stuffed peppers for dinner tonight and this recipe NEVER disappoints!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes, Jess! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hands-down the best stuffed bell peppers ever❤️❤️ I’m gonna use this recipe to make stuffed cabbage… I doubled on the sauce it was so good… I use the marinara sauce instead of chopped tomatoes…I also used 1 pound of ground beef 80/20 and 1 pound Johnsonville hot sausage links…Thank you so much Natasha!!!! you’re the best❤️
I love it! Thank you Kim for sharing your experience making this recipe. I hope it becomes a family favorite!
Oops never mind just saw the pic
Of raw meat
I was searching for a good bell pepper recipe. Past endeavors led to under-cooked rice, or under cooked pepper, long cooking times, or overly compacted stuffing, or tomato sauce that didn’t integrate well into the filling. This is the best. I am surprised that the sauce is watery yet flavorful. Perfect. I finally have a go-to tasty stuffed bell pepper recipe.
Thank you Natasha for sharing your technique and combination. Winsome.
You’re welcome!! Thank you for that awesome feedback!
oh, i forgot to mention tha I didn’t use sourcream because I didn’t have any. Ofcourse this is why the sauce was more watery. But anyway perfect. Just like my cousin made them for me last summer in Uzhgorod, Ukraine.
Thank you for sharing that with me!
Is the meat cooked first or do you mix raw meat with the rice?
We used raw meat.
Prepped my peppers in the instant pot for 3 minutes then QPR. Used tongs to empty them of collected water before setting them in my Staub glass-lidded brasier to cook in the oven. Since I’d used already cooked foods primarily I just baked these at 425 for 15 minutes then 45 minutes at 350. Excellent!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi Natasha,
Can you share why you add eggs in this recipe?
I have been making stuffed papers before but without eggs.
Hi Natalia, it helps to keep the mixture together.
Hi Natasha, i don’t have a dutch oven, wondering if you know how well this recipe would work if i used a regular bake dish with foil on top.
Hi Elina, I would suggest using the stove top method listed above but you can place them in a single layer in a deep roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. You can use a regular soup pot to precook the peppers (please see “prepping the peppers” section above).
The best stuffed peppers recipe I have tried! So tasty and so easy!
I’m so happy to hear that, Anna! Thank you for that awesome feedback!
I made a double portion and would like to freeze half for later.. should I freeze them cooked or raw?
Thank you!!!
Hi Rita! I haven’t tried freezing them but if I did, I would freeze them after they are cooked and then reheat them slowly either in the oven or stovetop. I would pack 2 at a time into quart sized bags and freeze with some of the juice, removing as much air from the bag as possible before sealing. This method works really well for freezing stuffed cabbage so I assume it would work just as well with these. If you test it out, let me know how you liked it 🙂
Hi Natasha, I recently found your website and love your videos and the recipes! Thank you for your efforts! Question, why do you add vinegar and salt to the water when boiling the peppers?
I have a bumper crop of peppers and fresh tomatoes and grass fed beef so will make these today! will give you my outcome later when the results are in!
Hi Marnie, the salt and vinegar are for flavor and to keep the bell peppers from becoming mushy in the end product. I hope you love the recipe!!
Hi, so I dont understand, is it 2.5 cups uncooked rice and then I cook it? Or like 1 1-4 and then cook it.
Hi Lena, you need a total of 2.5 cups of cooked rice.
Hi Natasha, i would like to try this recipe sounds wonderful, just wondering for the sauce instead of chopped tomates can i use tomatoe sauce?
Hi Mary. Although I haven’t tried it this way myself, I had a reader try it with tomato juice and she liked it. Also, Ulyana wrote “I didn’t have fresh tomatoes so I used canned diced tomatoes and it turned out great! Defiantly a favorite an will be making again in the future! Thank you Natashas Kichen for your great recipes!”
I love this recipe! Can I ask why the peppers have to be boiled for 3 min before you fill and cook them?
It helps to soften them with that pre-boil.
Natasha, I’m trying to make this but my peppers are tearing. After cooking them for 3 minutes do I drain them or leave them on the water for 30-40 minutes? That part wasn’t very clear and I’ve never made these before. I’m afraid my peppers have overlooked.
Hi Angelina, did you turn off the heat while they sat in the hot water? I’m sorry I didn’t clarify that well. After 3 minutes, leave the lid on, turn off the heat and let peppers sit in the hot water while you prepare the rest of the recipe. Normally, f the heat is off, it shouldn’t get to the point that they are tearing. Also, don’t overstuff the peppers which can cause them to tear. You want to fill them but don’t pack the filling into the pepper. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for clrarifying. Yes, I had the heat off with the lid on. When I was draining the water I already had about 3-4 peppers that had ripped. I’ll just adjust that in the future:) but aside from that they turned out ANAZING! My husband loved them:)) thank you so much for the recipe 😊
My pleasure Angelina, glad I can help!
you are amazing cook i love your recipes
Thank you so much Crystal! I’m glad you’re lovin the recipes!
Hello Natasha,
Do you think I can use mini peppers instead of the bell peppers? If so how long would you bake those for?
Hi Katie, I haven’t tested that so I can’t provide specifics. One of my readers wrote: “My mother in law makes these with the mini peppers and they are incredible!” but did not provide specific baking instructions.
I live in the UK. What is Mrs Dash seasoning.
Thanks
John
Hi John, it is an all-purpose salt-free seasoning. If you have something similar, it should work just fine 🙂
Actually red, yellow or orange pepper will taste better. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your tip with other readers Valen!
Just made these tonight! they are delicious.Just as I remember them from way back when we lived down in the south of Russia. Expat now living in Moscow, Russia.
I’m glad you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing!
How can I bake these if I don’t have a dutch oven?
Also if I use a soup pot, should I add water when boiling/steaming the peppers?
Hi Nick, I would suggest using the stove top method listed above but you can place them in a single layer in a deep roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. You can use a regular soup pot to precook the peppers (please see “prepping the peppers” section above).
Can I take the left over meat/rice mix and bake it?
Kinda like a meatloaf or a big kotleta?
Hi Nick, yes, I do think that would work well.
I didn’t have fresh tomatoes so I used canned diced tomatoes and it turned out great! Defiantly a favorite an will be making again in the future! Thank you Natashas Kichen for your great recipes!
You’re welcome Ulyana! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review!
Natasha,I’m so glad I found your site! The stuffed peppers are delicious! I’m enjoying the recipe so much!
Hello Svitlana! I’m glad to hear how much you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for following and sharing your great review!
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for sharing your recipes. After reading yours I realised where I’ve been going wrong all along! I will always saute carrots & onions before adding into the mix, makes a huge difference.
Your page is bookmarked 🙂
Marina (fellow Ukrainian – based in London)
Hello Marina! I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes! Thanks for following and sharing your wonderful review!
Hi Natasha, I’m just wondering, do u by any chance have any pressure cooker recipes?
This recipe looks delicious, I’m making it today😋
Unfortunately I don’t have any like that because I don’t have a pressure cooker… yet! If you convert any to a pressure cooker, let me know how it works out 🙂
I do actually convert some of ur recipes in there to make them faster. And they turn out delicious, I would go by ur recipe and then just put them in my instant pot pressure cooker, saves me so much time when I need to prepare food quick. And I make beef borsch in there all the time, keeps the borsch warm however long I want it too.
Today I will put the peppers in the pressure cooker to cook😋
That’s awesome!! I’m glad my recipes are working out in the pressure cooker. It sounds like such a smart way to cook!
Can stuffed peppers be frozen? At what point do you freeze them? How do you prepare them when frozen?
Hi Connie, I haven’t tried freezing them but if I did, I would freeze them after they are cooked and then reheat them slowly either in the oven or stovetop. I would pack 2 at a time into quart sized bags and freeze with some of the juice, removing as much air from the bag as possible before sealing. This method works really well for freezing stuffed cabbage so I assume it would work just as well with these. If you test it out, let me know how you liked it 🙂
Loved this recipe! So full of flavor and didn’t take long at all. I think a lot of simple additions (such as sugar, vinegar and garlic) make this one a winner. Once again Natasha, your recipe beat all others 🙂
That is so sweet of you to say. It really means a lot to us! I’m so happy you like the recipe 🙂
So glad I found your website! I made this recipe tonight and everyone loved it…which is not an easy task. I changed a few things to make it GAPS friendly. Thank you! Can’t wait to try the sauerkraut soup.
Thank you for such a nice review and you are welcome 😀.
Great recipe, me and my hubby loved them!
That’s awesome! thank you for sharing your great review 🙂
Have you ever made these a couple days in advance? Do you think it would be ok to make about 2 days in advance already stuffed(raw), keep in the fridge, and then just cook the day of?
Can’t wait to try this! 🙂
I think that would work fine, just keep in mind if they are cold, they will need a little extra baking time.
What if I am only making this for myself and another person… by how much would I cut everything?
I think you could make 1/4 of the recipe.
Amazing recipe that was easy to follow. Peppers turned out delicious!
Yay!! Awesome! Thanks for the great review 🙂
Hi Natasha, would it be possible to split this recipe for 4 bell peppers instead of 10-12??..
Alinkaa, I think it would be hard to split the recipe in order to make 4 peppers. Instead try splitting ingredients in half. Hope this helps :).
ok, will try that
thank you
This is probably like 239480293th time I comment on a tried recipe of yours this week. These bell peppers are the best thing I’ve eaten since before I left for nursing school. It’s 10:02pm, and I’m eating a bell pepper. With sour cream. And the raspberry-walnut roguliki are almost finished baking. I really hope I can fit into my pj’s tonight. Natasha, your recipes ROCK.
Lena, thank you so much for your sweet and encouraging comment, it means a lot to me :).
So yummy!! When my very Russian fiancé asked me to make stuffed peppers I said sure! It was followed by, ” Awesome, I haven’t had them since I was a kid. My babushka used to make them. They were my favorite.” , I now had a legend to live up to lol! I googled russian stuffed peppers and came across your recipe which looked familiar to how some other dishes his mom makes are constructed. I am SO glad I chose yours! It came out great and he said it was just like home. Thank you!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing your story with me and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Just made this for my Russian husband. He loved it!
That’s so great! I hope you loved it too! 😉
Hey ! I’m a first time learning cook trying to go off ur recipe. I cutt everything up and realized I bought ground pork instead of beef. Will pork still work or not so much?
yes that should work fine 🙂
Hi Natasha!
I was wondering I incan use the same amount of oregano but ‘ground’. (Not dry pieces).
Thank you!
If it’s like a powder, you might do 3/4 of the amount so maybe do 3/4 tsp. I think it is going to be more potent as a powder, but it should work just fine 🙂
Hi Natasha! Thanks for the recipe! I live in Germany (husband is german) and he LOVES Ukrainian/Russian food. Peppers are by far his favorite. And these goodies are cooking on the stove at this moment! Thank you again! Your blog really helps me here because mama can’t really show me so many miles away! Be blessed
That’s wonderful! I’m so happy you are enjoying my blog and finding it useful. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing that with me. I can almost smell those peppers now. Yum! I hope you love them! God bless you too! 🙂
Hi, just made these today. Very delicious! Thank you for this recipe. I only have one question, where does the parsley go? I couldn’t find the place for it in the recipe. I could just be going blind. I ended up not using it because I only had dried parsley on hand but didn’t know where it would go. Was great even without it!
I can’t believe I missed that!! Thanks so much for pointing it out. It goes in the same time as the parsley. Thanks so much for pointing that out and I’m so glad you loved the peppers 🙂
2 1/2 cups of uncooked rice then cook it and use all or cook rice and measure out 2 1/2 cups of the cooked rice?
Tanya, for this recipe, measure out 2 1/2 cups of cooked rice. Hope this helps :).
Hi Natasha, do you boil the pepper lids with the peppers? Also do you cover the Dutch oven with the lid when baking the peppers? I’m making these tonight and wasn’t sure. Please advise. Thank you.
Yes, at step #3, you will place all of the peppers and their lids in the pot. Yes, use a tight fitting lid when baking. I hope you love the peppers! 🙂
Can I make them in the crockpot?
I haven’t tried in a crock pot and I’d be concerned that they wouldn’t get cooked evenly and the peppers on the outside might get scorched and soggy before the meat cooked on the inside.
Hi Natasha,
it’s me again. I’m going to try out this recipe too. But i don’t have a dutch oven. Can I use a large roasting pan(with a lid) instead? Is the idea to bake them crammed in a lidded container?
A lidded roasting pan should work fine as long as the lid doesn’t have any gaps 🙂 You could even use an oven-safe soup pot.
Hi Natasha! Thank you sooo much for these wonderful and easy recipes. They are perfect for busy moms!
One question, where do I add the fresh parsley? Meat or the sauce?
Thanks so much! 🙂
Keep them coming!
It goes into the meat mix when you add the garlic 🙂
I have to say…this is the third recipe I’ve tried from your website and all three so far were absolutely perfect, SO rare since I cook a lot and most of the time its something new because rarely do I find a recipe thats a keeper…well…so far all three of your recipes are definitely keepers. Cant wait to try the rest. Thank you for the website.
Aww that’s awesome! Thank you for the great reviews. It means so much to me. I’m flying high, oh so high like a kite tied to a skate., Sorry I haven’t watched Napoleon Dynamite for a long time, honest, these things just come through sometimes. lol
I just love how mine turned out as well thank you so much Natasha for the recipe…. I just love ur blog!!!
http://borrowidea.blogspot.com/2013/04/beef-stuffed-bell-pepper.html
That’s awesome!! thank you dear 🙂
Tried them today…came out DELISH!!! Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome Lana 🙂
I’ve made peppers lots of times but decided to see if your recipe same. I love the tomatoes in yours, especially in the sauce. My sauce turned out a bit too salty so I also added some heavy whip cream and it turned sort of into a gravy 🙂 So glad I checked this out, I’ll be adding tomatoes now all the time.
I’m glad you liked it 🙂
These look amazing! I’m about to go make them right now. My mother in law makes these with the mini peppers and they are incredible! 🙂
I’ve been meaning try them as minis. That sounds great!
Natasha, I love your main picture. I wish my hubby loved bell peppers. This is a good recipe
Oh Thank you 🙂 I wish my son loved them too.
Thanks natasha! I was looking for this recipe. My family cook it like you. The finishing touch we use is “smetana”.
We do the same. It’s not the same without smetana (sour cream) 🙂
I usually mix “the sauce” with the rice and meat mixture from the start. And if i don’t have tomatoes for the sauce, i use tomato juice. After stuffing the peppers and arranging them in the baking dish, i add a little boiling water from my chainik, then I cover the peppers with lid or foil and bake in the oven. Different variation of the same thing:)
Alena, thank you or sharing your genius ideas!
I made these over the weekend and they were delicious. I made a few changes, I substituted brown rice instead of the white rice and used ground turkey and served them with plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and they were very delicious and filling. Even my two year old ate them and he’s a super picky eater. I had leftover filling and made katleti with them and they were gone before I knew it. Thank you for this yummy recipe.
Tanya I’m so happy you and your family liked them. Your version sounds healthier and very tasty. I love your innovation!
These look perfect Natasha and so savory! What a great summer supper.
Thank you so much Angelina. I will miss summer…won’t be able to poke around in the garden and pick fresh vegetables anymore till next year 🙁
My husband is crazy for this, Natasha – they look super yummy!
Thank you Sveta, my husband likes them a lot as well. They are like golubtsi, just easier to make 🙂
Hi Natasha, they look very delicious. My kids would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner; that’s how much they love stuffed bell peppers 🙂
Stunning picture, great job 🙂
Thank you Inessa, my son loves them too 🙂